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Testing Meson Portal Dark Sector Solutions to the MiniBooNE Anomaly at CCM
Authors:
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
S. Biedron,
J. Boissevain,
M. Borrego,
L. Bugel,
M. Chavez-Estrada,
J. M. Conrad,
R. L. Cooper,
A. Diaz,
J. R. Distel,
J. C. D'Olivo,
E. Dunton,
B. Dutta,
D. Fields,
J. R. Gochanour,
M. Gold,
E. Guardincerri,
E. C. Huang,
N. Kamp,
D. Kim,
K. Knickerbocker,
W. C. Louis,
J. T. M. Lyles,
R. Mahapatra,
S. Maludze
, et al. (20 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
A solution to the MiniBooNE excess invoking rare three-body decays of the charged pions and kaons to new states in the MeV mass scale was recently proposed as a dark-sector explanation. This class of solution illuminates the fact that, while the charged pions were focused in the target-mode run, their decay products were isotropically suppressed in the beam-dump-mode run in which no excess was obs…
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A solution to the MiniBooNE excess invoking rare three-body decays of the charged pions and kaons to new states in the MeV mass scale was recently proposed as a dark-sector explanation. This class of solution illuminates the fact that, while the charged pions were focused in the target-mode run, their decay products were isotropically suppressed in the beam-dump-mode run in which no excess was observed. This suggests a new physics solution correlated to the mesonic sector. We investigate an extended set of phenomenological models that can explain the MiniBooNE excess as a dark sector solution, utilizing long-lived particles that might be produced in the three-body decays of the charged mesons and the two-body anomalous decays of the neutral mesons. Over a broad set of interactions with the long-lived particles, we show that these scenarios can be compatible with constraints from LSND, KARMEN, and MicroBooNE, and evaluate the sensitivity of the ongoing and future data taken by the Coherent CAPTAIN Mills experiment (CCM) to a potential discovery in this parameter space.
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Submitted 22 March, 2024; v1 submitted 5 September, 2023;
originally announced September 2023.
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Prospects for detecting axionlike particles at the Coherent CAPTAIN-Mills experiment
Authors:
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
D. S. M. Alves,
S. Biedron,
J. Boissevain,
M. Borrego,
L. Bugel,
M. Chavez-Estrada,
J. M. Conrad,
R. L. Cooper,
A. Diaz,
J. R. Distel,
J. C. D'Olivo,
E. Dunton,
B. Dutta,
D. Fields,
J. R. Gochanour,
M. Gold,
E. Guardincerri,
E. C. Huang,
N. Kamp,
D. Kim,
K. Knickerbocker,
W. C. Louis,
J. T. M. Lyles,
R. Mahapatra
, et al. (23 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We show results from the Coherent CAPTAIN Mills (CCM) 2019 engineering run which begin to constrain regions of parameter space for axion-like particles (ALPs) produced in electromagnetic particle showers in an 800 MeV proton beam dump, and further investigate the sensitivity of ongoing data-taking campaigns for the CCM200 upgraded detector. Based on beam-on background estimates from the engineerin…
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We show results from the Coherent CAPTAIN Mills (CCM) 2019 engineering run which begin to constrain regions of parameter space for axion-like particles (ALPs) produced in electromagnetic particle showers in an 800 MeV proton beam dump, and further investigate the sensitivity of ongoing data-taking campaigns for the CCM200 upgraded detector. Based on beam-on background estimates from the engineering run, we make realistic extrapolations for background reduction based on expected shielding improvements, reduced beam width, and analysis-based techniques for background rejection. We obtain reach projections for two classes of signatures; ALPs coupled primarily to photons can be produced in the tungsten target via the Primakoff process, and then produce a gamma-ray signal in the Liquid Argon (LAr) CCM detector either via inverse Primakoff scattering or decay to a photon pair. ALPs with significant electron couplings have several additional production mechanisms (Compton scattering, $e^+e^-$ annihilation, ALP-bremsstrahlung) and detection modes (inverse Compton scattering, external $e^+e^-$ pair conversion, and decay to $e^+e^-$). In some regions, the constraint is marginally better than both astrophysical and terrestrial constraints. With the beginning of a three year run, CCM will be more sensitive to this parameter space by up to an order of magnitude for both ALP-photon and ALP-electron couplings. The CCM experiment will also have sensitivity to well-motivated parameter space of QCD axion models. It is only a recent realization that accelerator-based large volume liquid argon detectors designed for low energy coherent neutrino and dark matter scattering searches are also ideal for probing ALPs in the unexplored $\sim$MeV mass scale.
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Submitted 26 May, 2023; v1 submitted 18 December, 2021;
originally announced December 2021.
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Significant Excess of ElectronLike Events in the MiniBooNE Short-Baseline Neutrino Experiment
Authors:
MiniBooNE Collaboration,
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
G. Cheng,
J. M. Conrad,
R. L. Cooper,
R. Dharmapalan,
A. Diaz,
Z. Djurcic,
D. A. Finley,
R. Ford,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
J. Grange,
E. -C. Huang,
W. Huelsnitz,
C. Ignarra,
R. A. Johnson,
G. Karagiorgi,
T. Katori,
T. Kobilarcik,
W. C. Louis,
C. Mariani,
W. Marsh
, et al. (23 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab reports results from an analysis of $ν_e$ appearance data from $12.84 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in neutrino mode, an increase of approximately a factor of two over previously reported results. A $ν_e$ charged-current quasielastic event excess of $381.2 \pm 85.2$ events ($4.5 σ$) is observed in the energy range $200<E_ν^{QE}<1250$~MeV. Combining these da…
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The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab reports results from an analysis of $ν_e$ appearance data from $12.84 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in neutrino mode, an increase of approximately a factor of two over previously reported results. A $ν_e$ charged-current quasielastic event excess of $381.2 \pm 85.2$ events ($4.5 σ$) is observed in the energy range $200<E_ν^{QE}<1250$~MeV. Combining these data with the $\bar ν_e$ appearance data from $11.27 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in antineutrino mode, a total $ν_e$ plus $\bar ν_e$ charged-current quasielastic event excess of $460.5 \pm 99.0$ events ($4.7 σ$) is observed. If interpreted in a two-neutrino oscillation model, $ν_μ \rightarrow ν_e$, the best oscillation fit to the excess has a probability of $21.1\%$, while the background-only fit has a $χ^2$ probability of $6 \times 10^{-7}$ relative to the best fit. The MiniBooNE data are consistent in energy and magnitude with the excess of events reported by the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND), and the significance of the combined LSND and MiniBooNE excesses is $6.0 σ$. A two-neutrino oscillation interpretation of the data would require at least four neutrino types and indicate physics beyond the three neutrino paradigm.Although the data are fit with a two-neutrino oscillation model, other models may provide better fits to the data.
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Submitted 26 October, 2018; v1 submitted 30 May, 2018;
originally announced May 2018.
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First Measurement of Monoenergetic Muon Neutrino Charged Current Interactions
Authors:
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
G. Cheng,
E. D. Church,
J. M. Conrad,
R. L. Cooper,
R. Dharmapalan,
Z. Djurcic,
D. A. Finley,
R. S. Fitzpatrick,
R. Ford,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
J. Grange,
W. Huelsnitz,
C. Ignarra,
R. Imlay,
R. A. Johnson,
J. R. Jordan,
G. Karagiorgi,
T. Katori,
T. Kobilarcik,
W. C. Louis,
K. Mahn
, et al. (24 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We report the first measurement of monoenergetic muon neutrino charged current interactions. MiniBooNE has isolated 236 MeV muon neutrino events originating from charged kaon decay at rest ($K^+ \rightarrow μ^+ ν_μ$) at the NuMI beamline absorber. These signal $ν_μ$-carbon events are distinguished from primarily pion decay in flight $ν_μ$ and $\overlineν_μ$ backgrounds produced at the target stati…
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We report the first measurement of monoenergetic muon neutrino charged current interactions. MiniBooNE has isolated 236 MeV muon neutrino events originating from charged kaon decay at rest ($K^+ \rightarrow μ^+ ν_μ$) at the NuMI beamline absorber. These signal $ν_μ$-carbon events are distinguished from primarily pion decay in flight $ν_μ$ and $\overlineν_μ$ backgrounds produced at the target station and decay pipe using their arrival time and reconstructed muon energy. The significance of the signal observation is at the 3.9$σ$ level. The muon kinetic energy, neutrino-nucleus energy transfer ($ω=E_ν-E_μ$), and total cross section for these events is extracted. This result is the first known-energy, weak-interaction-only probe of the nucleus to yield a measurement of $ω$ using neutrinos, a quantity thus far only accessible through electron scattering.
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Submitted 7 May, 2018; v1 submitted 11 January, 2018;
originally announced January 2018.
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A Model for the Global Quantum Efficiency for a TPB-based Wavelength-Shifting System used with Photomultiplier Tubes in Liquid Argon in MicroBooNE
Authors:
S. F. Pate,
T. Wester,
L. Bugel,
J. Conrad,
E. Henderson,
B. J. P. Jones,
A. I. L. McLean,
J. S. Moon,
M. Toups,
T. Wongjirad
Abstract:
We present a model for the Global Quantum Efficiency (GQE) of the MicroBooNE optical units. An optical unit consists of a flat, circular acrylic plate, coated with tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB), positioned near the photocathode of a 20.2-cm diameter photomultiplier tube. The plate converts the ultra-violet scintillation photons from liquid argon into visible-spectrum photons to which the cryogenic p…
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We present a model for the Global Quantum Efficiency (GQE) of the MicroBooNE optical units. An optical unit consists of a flat, circular acrylic plate, coated with tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB), positioned near the photocathode of a 20.2-cm diameter photomultiplier tube. The plate converts the ultra-violet scintillation photons from liquid argon into visible-spectrum photons to which the cryogenic phototubes are sensitive. The GQE is the convolution of the efficiency of the plates that convert the 128 nm scintillation light from liquid argon to visible light, the efficiency of the shifted light to reach the photocathode, and the efficiency of the cryogenic photomultiplier tube. We develop a GEANT4-based model of the optical unit, based on first principles, and obtain the range of probable values for the expected number of detected photoelectrons ($N_{\rm PE}$) given the known systematic errors on the simulation parameters. We compare results from four measurements of the $N_{\rm PE}$ determined using alpha-particle sources placed at two distances from a TPB-coated plate in a liquid argon cryostat test stand. We also directly measured the radial dependence of the quantum efficiency, and find that this has the same shape as predicted by our model. Our model results in a GQE of $0.0055\pm0.0009$ for the MicroBooNE optical units. While the information shown here is MicroBooNE specific, the approach to the model and the collection of simulation parameters will be widely applicable to many liquid-argon-based light collection systems.
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Submitted 5 March, 2018; v1 submitted 3 November, 2017;
originally announced November 2017.
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Michel Electron Reconstruction Using Cosmic-Ray Data from the MicroBooNE LArTPC
Authors:
MicroBooNE collaboration,
R. Acciarri,
C. Adams,
R. An,
J. Anthony,
J. Asaadi,
M. Auger,
L. Bagby,
S. Balasubramanian,
B. Baller,
C. Barnes,
G. Barr,
M. Bass,
F. Bay,
M. Bishai,
A. Blake,
T. Bolton,
L. Bugel,
L. Camilleri,
D. Caratelli,
B. Carls,
R. Castillo Fernandez,
F. Cavanna,
H. Chen,
E. Church
, et al. (121 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) has been taking data at Fermilab since 2015 collecting, in addition to neutrino beam, cosmic-ray muons. Results are presented on the reconstruction of Michel electrons produced by the decay at rest of cosmic-ray muons. Michel electrons are abundantly produced in the TPC, and given their well known energy spectrum can be used to study Mic…
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The MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) has been taking data at Fermilab since 2015 collecting, in addition to neutrino beam, cosmic-ray muons. Results are presented on the reconstruction of Michel electrons produced by the decay at rest of cosmic-ray muons. Michel electrons are abundantly produced in the TPC, and given their well known energy spectrum can be used to study MicroBooNE's detector response to low-energy electrons (electrons with energies up to ~50 MeV). We describe the fully-automated algorithm developed to reconstruct Michel electrons, with which a sample of ~14,000 Michel electron candidates is obtained. Most of this article is dedicated to studying the impact of radiative photons produced by Michel electrons on the accuracy and resolution of their energy measurement. In this energy range, ionization and bremsstrahlung photon production contribute similarly to electron energy loss in argon, leading to a complex electron topology in the TPC. By profiling the performance of the reconstruction algorithm on simulation we show that the ability to identify and include energy deposited by radiative photons leads to a significant improvement in the energy measurement of low-energy electrons. The fractional energy resolution we measure improves from over 30% to ~20% when we attempt to include radiative photons in the reconstruction. These studies are relevant to a large number of analyses which aim to study neutrinos by measuring electrons produced by $ν_e$ interactions over a broad energy range.
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Submitted 30 August, 2017; v1 submitted 10 April, 2017;
originally announced April 2017.
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Determination of muon momentum in the MicroBooNE LArTPC using an improved model of multiple Coulomb scattering
Authors:
MicroBooNE collaboration,
P. Abratenko,
R. Acciarri,
C. Adams,
R. An,
J. Asaadi,
M. Auger,
L. Bagby,
S. Balasubramanian,
B. Baller,
C. Barnes,
G. Barr,
M. Bass,
F. Bay,
M. Bishai,
A. Blake,
T. Bolton,
L. Bugel,
L. Camilleri,
D. Caratelli,
B. Carls,
R. Castillo Fernandez,
F. Cavanna,
H. Chen,
E. Church
, et al. (123 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We discuss a technique for measuring a charged particle's momentum by means of multiple Coulomb scattering (MCS) in the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC). This method does not require the full particle ionization track to be contained inside of the detector volume as other track momentum reconstruction methods do (range-based momentum reconstruction and calorimetric momentum…
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We discuss a technique for measuring a charged particle's momentum by means of multiple Coulomb scattering (MCS) in the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC). This method does not require the full particle ionization track to be contained inside of the detector volume as other track momentum reconstruction methods do (range-based momentum reconstruction and calorimetric momentum reconstruction). We motivate use of this technique, describe a tuning of the underlying phenomenological formula, quantify its performance on fully contained beam-neutrino-induced muon tracks both in simulation and in data, and quantify its performance on exiting muon tracks in simulation. Using simulation, we have shown that the standard Highland formula should be re-tuned specifically for scattering in liquid argon, which significantly improves the bias and resolution of the momentum measurement. With the tuned formula, we find agreement between data and simulation for contained tracks, with a small bias in the momentum reconstruction and with resolutions that vary as a function of track length, improving from about 10% for the shortest (one meter long) tracks to 5% for longer (several meter) tracks. For simulated exiting muons with at least one meter of track contained, we find a similarly small bias, and a resolution which is less than 15% for muons with momentum below 2 GeV/c. Above 2 GeV/c, results are given as a first estimate of the MCS momentum measurement capabilities of MicroBooNE for high momentum exiting tracks.
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Submitted 5 October, 2017; v1 submitted 17 March, 2017;
originally announced March 2017.
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Design and Construction of the MicroBooNE Detector
Authors:
MicroBooNE Collaboration,
R. Acciarri,
C. Adams,
R. An,
A. Aparicio,
S. Aponte,
J. Asaadi,
M. Auger,
N. Ayoub,
L. Bagby,
B. Baller,
R. Barger,
G. Barr,
M. Bass,
F. Bay,
K. Biery,
M. Bishai,
A. Blake,
V. Bocean,
D. Boehnlein,
V. D. Bogert,
T. Bolton,
L. Bugel,
C. Callahan,
L. Camilleri
, et al. (215 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
This paper describes the design and construction of the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber and associated systems. MicroBooNE is the first phase of the Short Baseline Neutrino program, located at Fermilab, and will utilize the capabilities of liquid argon detectors to examine a rich assortment of physics topics. In this document details of design specifications, assembly procedures, a…
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This paper describes the design and construction of the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber and associated systems. MicroBooNE is the first phase of the Short Baseline Neutrino program, located at Fermilab, and will utilize the capabilities of liquid argon detectors to examine a rich assortment of physics topics. In this document details of design specifications, assembly procedures, and acceptance tests are reported.
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Submitted 17 January, 2017; v1 submitted 17 December, 2016;
originally announced December 2016.
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Convolutional Neural Networks Applied to Neutrino Events in a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber
Authors:
MicroBooNE collaboration,
R. Acciarri,
C. Adams,
R. An,
J. Asaadi,
M. Auger,
L. Bagby,
B. Baller,
G. Barr,
M. Bass,
F. Bay,
M. Bishai,
A. Blake,
T. Bolton,
L. Bugel,
L. Camilleri,
D. Caratelli,
B. Carls,
R. Castillo Fernandez,
F. Cavanna,
H. Chen,
E. Church,
D. Cianci,
G. H. Collin,
J. M. Conrad
, et al. (114 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We present several studies of convolutional neural networks applied to data coming from the MicroBooNE detector, a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC). The algorithms studied include the classification of single particle images, the localization of single particle and neutrino interactions in an image, and the detection of a simulated neutrino event overlaid with cosmic ray backgrounds t…
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We present several studies of convolutional neural networks applied to data coming from the MicroBooNE detector, a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC). The algorithms studied include the classification of single particle images, the localization of single particle and neutrino interactions in an image, and the detection of a simulated neutrino event overlaid with cosmic ray backgrounds taken from real detector data. These studies demonstrate the potential of convolutional neural networks for particle identification or event detection on simulated neutrino interactions. We also address technical issues that arise when applying this technique to data from a large LArTPC at or near ground level.
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Submitted 16 November, 2016;
originally announced November 2016.
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A Factor of Four Increase in Attenuation Length of Dipped Lightguides for Liquid Argon TPCs Through Improved Coating
Authors:
Z. Moss,
J. Moon,
L. Bugel,
J. M. Conrad,
K. Sachdev,
M. Toups,
T. Wongjirad
Abstract:
This paper describes new techniques for producing lightguides for detection of scintillation light in liquid argon time projection chambers. These can be used in future neutrino experiments such as SBND and DUNE. These new results build on a dipped-coating technique that was previously reported and is reviewed here. The improvements to the approach indicate a factor of four improvement in attenuat…
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This paper describes new techniques for producing lightguides for detection of scintillation light in liquid argon time projection chambers. These can be used in future neutrino experiments such as SBND and DUNE. These new results build on a dipped-coating technique that was previously reported and is reviewed here. The improvements to the approach indicate a factor of four improvement in attenuation length of the lightguides compared to past studies. The measured attenuation lengths, which are >2 m, are consistent with the bulk attenuation length of the material. Schematics for a mechanical dipping system are provided in this paper. This system is shown to result in coatings with < 10% variations
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Submitted 11 April, 2016;
originally announced April 2016.
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Anode-Coupled Readout for Light Collection in Liquid Argon TPCs
Authors:
Z. Moss,
M. Toups,
L. Bugel,
G. H. Collin,
J. M. Conrad
Abstract:
This paper will discuss a new method of signal read-out from photon detectors in ultra-large, underground liquid argon time projection chambers. In this design, the signal from the light collection system is coupled via capacitive plates to the TPC wire-planes. This signal is then read out using the same cabling and electronics as the charge information. This greatly benefits light collection: it…
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This paper will discuss a new method of signal read-out from photon detectors in ultra-large, underground liquid argon time projection chambers. In this design, the signal from the light collection system is coupled via capacitive plates to the TPC wire-planes. This signal is then read out using the same cabling and electronics as the charge information. This greatly benefits light collection: it eliminates the need for an independent readout, substantially reducing cost; It reduces the number of cables in the vapor region of the TPC that can produce impurities; And it cuts down on the number of feed-throughs in the cryostat wall that can cause heat-leaks and potential points of failure. We present experimental results that demonstrate the sensitivity of a LArTPC wire plane to photon detector signals. We also simulate the effect of a 1 $μ$s shaping time and a 2 MHz sampling rate on these signals in the presence of noise, and find that a single photoelectron timing resolution of $\sim$30 ns can be achieved.
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Submitted 7 July, 2015;
originally announced July 2015.
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A Proposal for a Three Detector Short-Baseline Neutrino Oscillation Program in the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam
Authors:
R. Acciarri,
C. Adams,
R. An,
C. Andreopoulos,
A. M. Ankowski,
M. Antonello,
J. Asaadi,
W. Badgett,
L. Bagby,
B. Baibussinov,
B. Baller,
G. Barr,
N. Barros,
M. Bass,
V. Bellini,
P. Benetti,
S. Bertolucci,
K. Biery,
H. Bilokon,
M. Bishai,
A. Bitadze,
A. Blake,
F. Boffelli,
T. Bolton,
M. Bonesini
, et al. (199 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
A Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) physics program of three LAr-TPC detectors located along the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) at Fermilab is presented. This new SBN Program will deliver a rich and compelling physics opportunity, including the ability to resolve a class of experimental anomalies in neutrino physics and to perform the most sensitive search to date for sterile neutrinos at the eV mass-sca…
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A Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) physics program of three LAr-TPC detectors located along the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) at Fermilab is presented. This new SBN Program will deliver a rich and compelling physics opportunity, including the ability to resolve a class of experimental anomalies in neutrino physics and to perform the most sensitive search to date for sterile neutrinos at the eV mass-scale through both appearance and disappearance oscillation channels. Using data sets of 6.6e20 protons on target (P.O.T.) in the LAr1-ND and ICARUS T600 detectors plus 13.2e20 P.O.T. in the MicroBooNE detector, we estimate that a search for muon neutrino to electron neutrino appearance can be performed with ~5 sigma sensitivity for the LSND allowed (99% C.L.) parameter region. In this proposal for the SBN Program, we describe the physics analysis, the conceptual design of the LAr1-ND detector, the design and refurbishment of the T600 detector, the necessary infrastructure required to execute the program, and a possible reconfiguration of the BNB target and horn system to improve its performance for oscillation searches.
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Submitted 4 March, 2015;
originally announced March 2015.
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Improved TPB-coated Light Guides for Liquid Argon TPC Light Detection Systems
Authors:
Z. Moss,
L. Bugel,
G. Collin,
J. M. Conrad,
B. J. P. Jones,
J. Moon,
M. Toups,
T. Wongjirad
Abstract:
Scintillation light produced in liquid argon (LAr) must be shifted from 128 nm to visible wavelengths in light detection systems used for liquid argon time-projection chambers (LArTPCs). To date, LArTPC light collection systems have employed tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) coatings on photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) or plates placed in front of the PMTs. Recently, a new approach using TPB-coated light gu…
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Scintillation light produced in liquid argon (LAr) must be shifted from 128 nm to visible wavelengths in light detection systems used for liquid argon time-projection chambers (LArTPCs). To date, LArTPC light collection systems have employed tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) coatings on photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) or plates placed in front of the PMTs. Recently, a new approach using TPB-coated light guides was proposed. In this paper, we report on light guides with improved attenuation lengths above 100 cm when measured in air. This is an important step in the development of meter-scale light guides for future LArTPCs. Improvements come from using a new acrylic-based coating, diamond-polished cast UV transmitting acrylic bars, and a hand-dipping technique to coat the bars. We discuss a model for connecting bar response in air to response in liquid argon and compare this to data taken in liquid argon. The good agreement between the prediction of the model and the measured response in liquid argon demonstrates that characterization in air is sufficient for quality control of bar production. This model can be used in simulations of light guides for future experiments.
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Submitted 25 March, 2015; v1 submitted 23 October, 2014;
originally announced October 2014.
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Using L/E Oscillation Probability Distributions
Authors:
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
G. Cheng,
E. D. Church,
J. M. Conrad,
R. Dharmapalan,
Z. Djurcic,
D. A. Finley,
R. Ford,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
J. Grange,
W. Huelsnitz,
C. Ignarra,
R. Imlay,
R. A. Johnson,
G. Karagiorgi,
T. Katori,
T. Kobilarcik,
W. C. Louis,
C. Mariani,
W. Marsh,
G. B. Mills,
J. Mirabal
, et al. (19 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
This paper explores the use of $L/E$ oscillation probability distributions to compare experimental measurements and to evaluate oscillation models. In this case, $L$ is the distance of neutrino travel and $E$ is a measure of the interacting neutrino's energy. While comparisons using allowed and excluded regions for oscillation model parameters are likely the only rigorous method for these comparis…
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This paper explores the use of $L/E$ oscillation probability distributions to compare experimental measurements and to evaluate oscillation models. In this case, $L$ is the distance of neutrino travel and $E$ is a measure of the interacting neutrino's energy. While comparisons using allowed and excluded regions for oscillation model parameters are likely the only rigorous method for these comparisons, the $L/E$ distributions are shown to give qualitative information on the agreement of an experiment's data with a simple two-neutrino oscillation model. In more detail, this paper also outlines how the $L/E$ distributions can be best calculated and used for model comparisons. Specifically, the paper presents the $L/E$ data points for the final MiniBooNE data samples and, in the Appendix, explains and corrects the mistaken analysis published by the ICARUS collaboration.
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Submitted 11 July, 2014;
originally announced July 2014.
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Measurement of the Antineutrino Neutral-Current Elastic Differential Cross Section
Authors:
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
G. Cheng,
E. D. Church,
J. M. Conrad,
R. Dharmapalan,
Z. Djurcic,
D. A. Finley,
R. Ford,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
J. Grange,
W. Huelsnitz,
C. Ignarra,
R. Imlay,
R. A. Johnson,
G. Karagiorgi,
T. Katori,
T. Kobilarcik,
W. C. Louis,
C. Mariani,
W. Marsh,
G. B. Mills,
J. Mirabal
, et al. (20 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We report the measurement of the flux-averaged antineutrino neutral current elastic scattering cross section ($dσ_{\bar νN \rightarrow \bar νN}/dQ^{2}$) on CH$_{2}$ by the MiniBooNE experiment using the largest sample of antineutrino neutral current elastic candidate events ever collected. The ratio of the antineutrino to neutrino neutral current elastic scattering cross sections and a ratio of an…
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We report the measurement of the flux-averaged antineutrino neutral current elastic scattering cross section ($dσ_{\bar νN \rightarrow \bar νN}/dQ^{2}$) on CH$_{2}$ by the MiniBooNE experiment using the largest sample of antineutrino neutral current elastic candidate events ever collected. The ratio of the antineutrino to neutrino neutral current elastic scattering cross sections and a ratio of antineutrino neutral current elastic to antineutrino charged current quasi elastic cross section is also presented.
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Submitted 27 September, 2013;
originally announced September 2013.
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Testing of Cryogenic Photomultiplier Tubes for the MicroBooNE Experiment
Authors:
T. Briese,
L. Bugel,
J. M. Conrad,
M. Fournier,
C. Ignarra,
B. J. P. Jones,
T. Katori,
R. Navarrete-Perez,
P. Nienaber,
T. McDonald,
B. Musolf,
A. Prakash,
E. Shockley,
T. Smidt,
K. Swanson,
M. Toups
Abstract:
The MicroBooNE detector, to be located on axis in the Booster Neutrino Beamline (BNB) at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), consists of two main components: a large liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC), and a light collection system. Thirty 8-inch diameter Hamamatsu R5912-02mod cryogenic photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) will detect the scintillation light generated in the l…
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The MicroBooNE detector, to be located on axis in the Booster Neutrino Beamline (BNB) at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), consists of two main components: a large liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC), and a light collection system. Thirty 8-inch diameter Hamamatsu R5912-02mod cryogenic photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) will detect the scintillation light generated in the liquid argon (LAr). This article first describes the MicroBooNE PMT performance test procedures, including how the light collection system functions in the detector, and the design of the PMT base. The design of the cryogenic test stand is then discussed, and finally the results of the cryogenic tests are reported.
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Submitted 17 June, 2013; v1 submitted 2 April, 2013;
originally announced April 2013.
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Improved Search for $\bar ν_μ\rightarrow \bar ν_e$ Oscillations in the MiniBooNE Experiment
Authors:
The MiniBooNE Collaboration,
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
G. Cheng,
E. D. Church,
J. M. Conrad,
R. Dharmapalan,
Z. Djurcic,
D. A. Finley,
R. Ford,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
J. Grange,
W. Huelsnitz,
C. Ignarra,
R. Imlay,
R. A. Johnson,
G. Karagiorgi,
T. Katori,
T. Kobilarcik,
W. C. Louis,
C. Mariani,
W. Marsh,
G. B. Mills
, et al. (20 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab reports results from an analysis of $\bar ν_e$ appearance data from $11.27 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in antineutrino mode, an increase of approximately a factor of two over the previously reported results. An event excess of $78.4 \pm 28.5$ events ($2.8 σ$) is observed in the energy range $200<E_ν^{QE}<1250$ MeV. If interpreted in a two-neutrino oscilla…
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The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab reports results from an analysis of $\bar ν_e$ appearance data from $11.27 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in antineutrino mode, an increase of approximately a factor of two over the previously reported results. An event excess of $78.4 \pm 28.5$ events ($2.8 σ$) is observed in the energy range $200<E_ν^{QE}<1250$ MeV. If interpreted in a two-neutrino oscillation model, $\barν_μ\rightarrow\barν_e$, the best oscillation fit to the excess has a probability of 66% while the background-only fit has a $χ^2$-probability of 0.5% relative to the best fit. The data are consistent with antineutrino oscillations in the $0.01 < Δm^2 < 1.0$ eV$^2$ range and have some overlap with the evidence for antineutrino oscillations from the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND). All of the major backgrounds are constrained by in-situ event measurements so non-oscillation explanations would need to invoke new anomalous background processes. The neutrino mode running also shows an excess at low energy of $162.0 \pm 47.8$ events ($3.4 σ$) but the energy distribution of the excess is marginally compatible with a simple two neutrino oscillation formalism. Expanded models with several sterile neutrinos can reduce the incompatibility by allowing for CP violating effects between neutrino and antineutrino oscillations.
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Submitted 12 March, 2013; v1 submitted 11 March, 2013;
originally announced March 2013.
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First Measurement of the Muon Anti-Neutrino Double-Differential Charged Current Quasi-Elastic Cross Section
Authors:
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
G. Cheng,
E. D. Church,
J. M. Conrad,
R. Dharmapalan,
Z. Djurcic,
D. A. Finley,
R. Ford,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
J. Grange,
W. Huelsnitz,
C. Ignarra,
R. Imlay,
R. A. Johnson,
G. Karagiorgi,
T. Katori,
T. Kobilarcik,
W. C. Louis,
C. Mariani,
W. Marsh,
G. B. Mills,
J. Mirabal
, et al. (20 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The largest sample ever recorded of $\numub$ charged-current quasi-elastic (CCQE, $\numub + p \to \mup + n$) candidate events is used to produce the minimally model-dependent, flux-integrated double-differential cross section $\frac{d^{2}σ}{dT_μd\uz}$ for $\numub$ incident on mineral oil. This measurement exploits the unprecedented statistics of the MiniBooNE anti-neutrino mode sample and provides…
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The largest sample ever recorded of $\numub$ charged-current quasi-elastic (CCQE, $\numub + p \to \mup + n$) candidate events is used to produce the minimally model-dependent, flux-integrated double-differential cross section $\frac{d^{2}σ}{dT_μd\uz}$ for $\numub$ incident on mineral oil. This measurement exploits the unprecedented statistics of the MiniBooNE anti-neutrino mode sample and provides the most complete information of this process to date. Also given to facilitate historical comparisons are the flux-unfolded total cross section $σ(E_ν)$ and single-differential cross section $\frac{dσ}{d\qsq}$ on both mineral oil and on carbon by subtracting the $\numub$ CCQE events on hydrogen. The observed cross section is somewhat higher than the predicted cross section from a model assuming independently-acting nucleons in carbon with canonical form factor values. The shape of the data are also discrepant with this model. These results have implications for intra-nuclear processes and can help constrain signal and background processes for future neutrino oscillation measurements.
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Submitted 4 August, 2013; v1 submitted 29 January, 2013;
originally announced January 2013.
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Benchmarking TPB-coated Light Guides for Liquid Argon TPC Light Detection Systems
Authors:
B. Baptista,
L. Bugel,
C. Chiu,
J. M. Conrad,
C. M. Ignarra,
B. J. P. Jones,
T. Katori,
S. Mufson
Abstract:
Scintillation light from liquid argon is produced at 128 nm and thus must be shifted to visible wavelengths in light detection systems used for Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LArTPCs). To date, designs have employed tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) coatings on photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) or plates placed in front of the PMTs. Recently, a new approach using TPB-coated light guides was proposed.…
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Scintillation light from liquid argon is produced at 128 nm and thus must be shifted to visible wavelengths in light detection systems used for Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LArTPCs). To date, designs have employed tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) coatings on photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) or plates placed in front of the PMTs. Recently, a new approach using TPB-coated light guides was proposed. In this paper, we show that the response of lightguides coated with TPB in a UV Transmitting (UVT) acrylic matrix is very similar to that of a coating using a polystyrene (PS) matrix. We obtain a factor of three higher light yield than has been previously reported from lightguides. This paper provides information on the response of the lightguides so that these can be modeled in simulations for future LArTPCs. This paper also identifies areas of R&D for potential improvements in the lightguide response
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Submitted 2 March, 2014; v1 submitted 14 October, 2012;
originally announced October 2012.
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Letter of Intent: A new investigation of numu to nue oscillations with improved sensitivity in an enhanced MiniBooNE experiment
Authors:
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
R. Cooper,
J. M. Conrad,
R. Dharmapalan,
R. Ford,
Z. Djurcic,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
J. Grange,
S. Habib,
W. Huelsnitz,
R. Imlay,
C. Jiang,
G. Karagiorgi,
W. C. Louis,
R. A. Johnson,
W. Marsh,
C. Mauger,
G. B. Mills,
C. D. Moore,
J. Mousseau,
P. Nienaber,
B. Osmanov
, et al. (11 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We propose adding 300 mg/l PPO to the existing MiniBooNE detector mineral oil to increase the scintillation response. This will allow the detection of associated neutrons and increase sensitivity to final-state nucleons in neutrino interactions. This increased capability will enable an independent test of whether the current excess seen in the MiniBooNE oscillation search is signal or background.…
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We propose adding 300 mg/l PPO to the existing MiniBooNE detector mineral oil to increase the scintillation response. This will allow the detection of associated neutrons and increase sensitivity to final-state nucleons in neutrino interactions. This increased capability will enable an independent test of whether the current excess seen in the MiniBooNE oscillation search is signal or background. In addition it will enable other neutrino interaction measurements to be made including a search for the strange-quark contribution to the nucleon spin Delta s and a low-energy measurement of charged-current quasielastic scattering.
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Submitted 8 October, 2012;
originally announced October 2012.
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Dual baseline search for muon antineutrino disappearance at 0.1 eV^2 < Δm^2 < 100 eV^2
Authors:
MiniBooNE Collaboration,
SciBooNE Collaboration,
G. Cheng,
W. Huelsnitz,
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
J. L. Alcaraz-Aunion,
S. J. Brice,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
J. Catala-Perez,
E. D. Church,
J. M. Conrad,
R. Dharmapalan,
Z. Djurcic,
U. Dore,
D. A. Finley,
R. Ford,
A. J. Franke,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
C. Giganti,
J. J. Gomez-Cadenas,
J. Grange,
P. Guzowski,
A. Hanson
, et al. (66 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The MiniBooNE and SciBooNE collaborations report the results of a joint search for short baseline disappearance of \bar{ν_μ} at Fermilab's Booster Neutrino Beamline. The MiniBooNE Cherenkov detector and the SciBooNE tracking detector observe antineutrinos from the same beam, therefore the combined analysis of their datasets serves to partially constrain some of the flux and cross section uncertain…
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The MiniBooNE and SciBooNE collaborations report the results of a joint search for short baseline disappearance of \bar{ν_μ} at Fermilab's Booster Neutrino Beamline. The MiniBooNE Cherenkov detector and the SciBooNE tracking detector observe antineutrinos from the same beam, therefore the combined analysis of their datasets serves to partially constrain some of the flux and cross section uncertainties. Uncertainties in the ν_μ background were constrained by neutrino flux and cross section measurements performed in both detectors. A likelihood ratio method was used to set a 90% confidence level upper limit on \bar{ν_μ} disappearance that dramatically improves upon prior limits in the Δm^2=0.1-100 eV^2 region.
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Submitted 5 November, 2012; v1 submitted 1 August, 2012;
originally announced August 2012.
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A Combined $ν_μ\to ν_e$ and $\barν_μ\to \barν_e$ Oscillation Analysis of the MiniBooNE Excesses
Authors:
MiniBooNE Collaboration,
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
G. Cheng,
E. D. Church,
J. M. Conrad,
R. Dharmapalan,
Z. Djurcic,
D. A. Finley,
R. Ford,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
J. Grange,
W. Huelsnitz,
C. Ignarra,
R. Imlay,
R. A. Johnson,
G. Karagiorgi,
T. Katori,
T. Kobilarcik,
W. C. Louis,
C. Mariani,
W. Marsh,
G. B. Mills
, et al. (20 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab reports results from an analysis of the combined $ν_e$ and $\bar ν_e$ appearance data from $6.46 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in neutrino mode and $11.27 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in antineutrino mode. A total excess of $240.3 \pm 34.5 \pm 52.6$ events ($3.8 σ$) is observed from combining the two data sets in the energy range $200<E_ν^{QE}<1250$ Me…
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The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab reports results from an analysis of the combined $ν_e$ and $\bar ν_e$ appearance data from $6.46 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in neutrino mode and $11.27 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target in antineutrino mode. A total excess of $240.3 \pm 34.5 \pm 52.6$ events ($3.8 σ$) is observed from combining the two data sets in the energy range $200<E_ν^{QE}<1250$ MeV. In a combined fit for CP-conserving $ν_μ\rightarrow ν_e$ and $\barν_μ\rightarrow\barν_e$ oscillations via a two-neutrino model, the background-only fit has a $χ^2$-probability of 0.03% relative to the best oscillation fit. The data are consistent with neutrino oscillations in the $0.01 < Δm^2 < 1.0$ eV$^2$ range and with the evidence for antineutrino oscillations from the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND).
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Submitted 27 August, 2012; v1 submitted 19 July, 2012;
originally announced July 2012.
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Environmental Effects on TPB Wavelength-Shifting Coatings
Authors:
C. S. Chiu,
C. Ignarra,
L. Bugel,
H. Chen,
J. M. Conrad,
B. J. P. Jones,
T. Katori,
I. Moult
Abstract:
The scintillation detection systems of liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) require wavelength shifters to detect the 128 nm scintillation light produced in liquid argon. Tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) is a fluorescent material that can shift this light to a wavelength of 425 nm, lending itself well to use in these detectors. We can coat the glass of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) with TPB o…
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The scintillation detection systems of liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) require wavelength shifters to detect the 128 nm scintillation light produced in liquid argon. Tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) is a fluorescent material that can shift this light to a wavelength of 425 nm, lending itself well to use in these detectors. We can coat the glass of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) with TPB or place TPB-coated plates in front of the PMTs.
In this paper, we investigate the degradation of a chemical TPB coating in a laboratory or factory environment to assess the viability of long-term TPB film storage prior to its initial installation in an LArTPC. We present evidence for severe degradation due to common fluorescent lights and ambient sunlight in laboratories, with potential losses at the 40% level in the first day and eventual losses at the 80% level after a month of exposure. We determine the degradation is due to wavelengths in the UV spectrum, and we demonstrate mitigating methods for retrofitting lab and factory environments.
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Submitted 25 April, 2012;
originally announced April 2012.
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Test of Lorentz and CPT violation with Short Baseline Neutrino Oscillation Excesses
Authors:
The MiniBooNE Collaboration,
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
C. E. Anderson,
A. O. Bazarko,
S. J. Brice,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
J. Cao,
L. Coney,
J. M. Conrad,
D. C. Cox,
A. Curioni,
R. Dharmapalan,
Z. Djurcic,
D. A. Finley,
B. T. Fleming,
R. Ford,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
J. Grange,
C. Green,
J. A. Green,
T. L. Hart,
E. Hawker,
W. Huelsnitz
, et al. (63 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The sidereal time dependence of MiniBooNE electron neutrino and anti-electron neutrino appearance data are analyzed to search for evidence of Lorentz and CPT violation. An unbinned Kolmogorov-Smirnov test shows both the electron neutrino and anti-electron neutrino appearance data are compatible with the null sidereal variation hypothesis to more than 5%. Using an unbinned likelihood fit with a Lor…
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The sidereal time dependence of MiniBooNE electron neutrino and anti-electron neutrino appearance data are analyzed to search for evidence of Lorentz and CPT violation. An unbinned Kolmogorov-Smirnov test shows both the electron neutrino and anti-electron neutrino appearance data are compatible with the null sidereal variation hypothesis to more than 5%. Using an unbinned likelihood fit with a Lorentz-violating oscillation model derived from the Standard Model Extension (SME) to describe any excess events over background, we find that the electron neutrino appearance data prefer a sidereal time-independent solution, and the anti-electron neutrino appearance data slightly prefer a sidereal time-dependent solution. Limits of order 10E-20 GeV are placed on combinations of SME coefficients. These limits give the best limits on certain SME coefficients for muon neutrino to electron neutrino and anti-muon neutrino to anti-electron neutrino oscillations. The fit values and limits of combinations of SME coefficients are provided.
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Submitted 22 June, 2012; v1 submitted 15 September, 2011;
originally announced September 2011.
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Dual baseline search for muon neutrino disappearance at 0.5 eV^2 < Δm^2 < 40 eV^2
Authors:
MiniBooNE,
SciBooNE Collaborations,
:,
K. B. M. Mahn,
Y. Nakajima,
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
J. L. Alcaraz-Aunion,
C. E. Anderson,
A. O. Bazarko,
S. J. Brice,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
J. Cao,
J. Catala-Perez,
G. Cheng,
L. Coney,
J. M. Conrad,
D. C. Cox,
A. Curioni,
R. Dharmapalan,
Z. Djurcic,
U. Dore,
D. A. Finley,
B. T. Fleming,
R. Ford
, et al. (105 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The SciBooNE and MiniBooNE collaborations report the results of a ν_μdisappearance search in the Δm^2 region of 0.5-40 eV^2. The neutrino rate as measured by the SciBooNE tracking detectors is used to constrain the rate at the MiniBooNE Cherenkov detector in the first joint analysis of data from both collaborations. Two separate analyses of the combined data samples set 90% confidence level (CL) l…
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The SciBooNE and MiniBooNE collaborations report the results of a ν_μdisappearance search in the Δm^2 region of 0.5-40 eV^2. The neutrino rate as measured by the SciBooNE tracking detectors is used to constrain the rate at the MiniBooNE Cherenkov detector in the first joint analysis of data from both collaborations. Two separate analyses of the combined data samples set 90% confidence level (CL) limits on ν_μdisappearance in the 0.5-40 eV^2 Δm^2 region, with an improvement over previous experimental constraints between 10 and 30 eV^2.
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Submitted 28 December, 2011; v1 submitted 28 June, 2011;
originally announced June 2011.
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Measurement of K+ production cross section by 8 GeV protons using high energy neutrino interactions in the SciBooNE detector
Authors:
The SciBooNE Collaboration,
G. Cheng,
C. Mariani,
J. L. Alcaraz-Aunion,
S. J. Brice,
L. Bugel,
J. Catala-Perez,
J. M. Conrad,
Z. Djurcic,
U. Dore,
D. A. Finley,
A. J. Franke,
C. Giganti,
a J. J. Gomez-Cadenas,
P. Guzowski,
A. Hanson,
Y. Hayato,
K. Hiraide,
G. Jover-Manas,
G. Karagiorgi,
T. Katori,
Y. K. Kobayashi,
T. Kobilarcik,
H. Kubo,
Y. Kurimoto
, et al. (39 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The SciBooNE Collaboration reports K+ production cross section and rate measurements using high energy daughter muon neutrino scattering data off the SciBar polystyrene (C8H8) target in the SciBooNE detector. The K+ mesons are produced by 8 GeV protons striking a beryllium target in Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam line (BNB). Using observed neutrino and antineutrino events in SciBooNE, we measure d…
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The SciBooNE Collaboration reports K+ production cross section and rate measurements using high energy daughter muon neutrino scattering data off the SciBar polystyrene (C8H8) target in the SciBooNE detector. The K+ mesons are produced by 8 GeV protons striking a beryllium target in Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam line (BNB). Using observed neutrino and antineutrino events in SciBooNE, we measure d2σ/dpdΩ = (5.34 \times 0.76) mb/(GeV/c \times sr) for p + Be -> K+ + X at mean K+ energy of 3.9 GeV and angle (with respect to the proton beam direction) of 3.7 degrees, corresponding to the selected K+ sample. Compared to Monte Carlo predictions using previous higher energy K+ production measurements, this measurement, which uses the NUANCE neutrino interaction generator, is consistent with a normalization factor of 0.85\times0.12. This agreement is evidence that the extrapolation of the higher energy K+ measurements to an 8 GeV beam energy using Feynman scaling is valid. This measurement reduces the error on the K+ production cross section from 40% to 14%.
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Submitted 29 July, 2011; v1 submitted 14 May, 2011;
originally announced May 2011.
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Measurement of the neutrino component of an anti-neutrino beam observed by a non-magnetized detector
Authors:
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
C. E. Anderson,
S. J. Brice,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
J. M. Conrad,
R. Dharmapalan,
Z. Djurcic,
B. T. Fleming,
R. Ford,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
J. Grange,
J. A. Green,
R. Imlay,
R. A. Johnson,
G. Karagiorgi,
T. Katori,
T. Kobilarcik,
S. K. Linden,
W. C. Louis,
K. B. M. Mahn,
W. Marsh,
C. Mauger,
W. Metcalf
, et al. (29 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Two independent methods are employed to measure the neutrino flux of the anti-neutrino-mode beam observed by the MiniBooNE detector. The first method compares data to simulated event rates in a high purity $\numu$ induced charged-current single $\pip$ (CC1$\pip$) sample while the second exploits the difference between the angular distributions of muons created in $\numu$ and $\numub$ charged-curre…
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Two independent methods are employed to measure the neutrino flux of the anti-neutrino-mode beam observed by the MiniBooNE detector. The first method compares data to simulated event rates in a high purity $\numu$ induced charged-current single $\pip$ (CC1$\pip$) sample while the second exploits the difference between the angular distributions of muons created in $\numu$ and $\numub$ charged-current quasi-elastic (CCQE) interactions. The results from both analyses indicate the prediction of the neutrino flux component of the pre-dominately anti-neutrino beam is over-estimated - the CC1$\pip$ analysis indicates the predicted $\numu$ flux should be scaled by $0.76 \pm 0.11$, while the CCQE angular fit yields $0.65 \pm 0.23$. The energy spectrum of the flux prediction is checked by repeating the analyses in bins of reconstructed neutrino energy, and the results show that the spectral shape is well modeled. These analyses are a demonstration of techniques for measuring the neutrino contamination of anti-neutrino beams observed by future non-magnetized detectors.
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Submitted 29 January, 2013; v1 submitted 9 February, 2011;
originally announced February 2011.
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Demonstration of a Lightguide Detector for Liquid Argon TPCs
Authors:
L. Bugel,
J. M. Conrad,
C. Ignarra,
B. J. P. Jones,
T. Katori,
T. Smidt,
H. -K. Tanaka
Abstract:
We report demonstration of light detection in liquid argon using an acrylic lightguide detector system. This opens the opportunity for development of an inexpensive, large-area light collection system for large liquid argon time projection chambers. The guides are constructed of acrylic, with TPB embedded in a surface coating with a matching index of refraction. We study the response to early scin…
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We report demonstration of light detection in liquid argon using an acrylic lightguide detector system. This opens the opportunity for development of an inexpensive, large-area light collection system for large liquid argon time projection chambers. The guides are constructed of acrylic, with TPB embedded in a surface coating with a matching index of refraction. We study the response to early scintillation light produced by a 5.3 MeV alpha. We measure coating responses from 7 to 8 PE on average, compared to an ideal expectation of 10 PE on average. We estimate the attenuation length of light along the lightguide bar to be greater than 0.5 m. The coating response and the attenuation length can be improved; we show, however, that these results are already sufficient for triggering in a large detector.
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Submitted 15 January, 2011;
originally announced January 2011.
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Measurement of Neutrino-Induced Charged-Current Charged Pion Production Cross Sections on Mineral Oil at E$_ν\sim 1~\textrm{GeV}$
Authors:
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
C. E. Anderson,
A. O. Bazarko,
S. J. Brice,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
J. Cao,
L. Coney,
J. M. Conrad,
D. C. Cox,
A. Curioni,
R. Dharmapalan,
Z. Djurcic,
D. A. Finley,
B. T. Fleming,
R. Ford,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
J. Grange,
C. Green,
J. A. Green,
T. L. Hart,
E. Hawker,
R. Imlay,
R. A. Johnson
, et al. (61 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Using a high-statistics, high-purity sample of $ν_μ$-induced charged current, charged pion events in mineral oil (CH$_2$), MiniBooNE reports a collection of interaction cross sections for this process. This includes measurements of the CC$π^+$ cross section as a function of neutrino energy, as well as flux-averaged single- and double-differential cross sections of the energy and direction of both…
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Using a high-statistics, high-purity sample of $ν_μ$-induced charged current, charged pion events in mineral oil (CH$_2$), MiniBooNE reports a collection of interaction cross sections for this process. This includes measurements of the CC$π^+$ cross section as a function of neutrino energy, as well as flux-averaged single- and double-differential cross sections of the energy and direction of both the final-state muon and pion. In addition, each of the single-differential cross sections are extracted as a function of neutrino energy to decouple the shape of the MiniBooNE energy spectrum from the results. In many cases, these cross sections are the first time such quantities have been measured on a nuclear target and in the 1 GeV energy range.
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Submitted 31 March, 2011; v1 submitted 15 November, 2010;
originally announced November 2010.
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Measurement of inclusive charged current interactions on carbon in a few-GeV neutrino beam
Authors:
SciBooNE Collaboration,
Y. Nakajima,
J. L. Alcaraz-Aunion,
S. J. Brice,
L. Bugel,
J. Catala-Perez,
G. Cheng,
J. M. Conrad,
Z. Djurcic,
U. Dore,
D. A. Finley,
A. J. Franke,
C. Giganti,
J. J. Gomez-Cadenas,
P. Guzowski,
A. Hanson,
Y. Hayato,
K. Hiraide,
G. Jover-Manas,
G. Karagiorgi,
T. Katori,
Y. K. Kobayashi,
T. Kobilarcik,
H. Kubo,
Y. Kurimoto
, et al. (39 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The SciBooNE Collaboration reports a measurement of inclusive charged current interactions of muon neutrinos on carbon with an average energy of 0.8 GeV using the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam. We compare our measurement with two neutrino interaction simulations: NEUT and NUANCE. The charged current interaction rates (product of flux and cross section) are extracted by fitting the muon kinematics…
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The SciBooNE Collaboration reports a measurement of inclusive charged current interactions of muon neutrinos on carbon with an average energy of 0.8 GeV using the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam. We compare our measurement with two neutrino interaction simulations: NEUT and NUANCE. The charged current interaction rates (product of flux and cross section) are extracted by fitting the muon kinematics, with a precision of 6-15% for the energy dependent and 3% for the energy integrated analyses. We also extract CC inclusive interaction cross sections from the observed rates, with a precision of 10-30% for the energy dependent and 8% for the energy integrated analyses. This is the first measurement of the CC inclusive cross section on carbon around 1 GeV. These results can be used to convert previous SciBooNE cross section ratio measurements to absolute cross section values.
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Submitted 6 January, 2011; v1 submitted 9 November, 2010;
originally announced November 2010.
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Measurement of $ν_μ$-induced charged-current neutral pion production cross sections on mineral oil at $E_ν\in0.5-2.0$ GeV
Authors:
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
C. E. Anderson,
A. O. Bazarko,
S. J. Brice,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
J. Cao,
L. Coney,
J. M. Conrad,
D. C. Cox,
A. Curioni,
R. Dharmapalan,
Z. Djurcic,
D. A. Finley,
B. T. Fleming,
R. Ford,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
J. Grange,
C. Green,
J. A. Green,
T. L. Hart,
E. Hawker,
R. Imlay,
R. A. Johnson
, et al. (61 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Using a custom 3 Čerenkov-ring fitter, we report cross sections for $ν_μ$-induced charged-current single $π^0$ production on mineral oil (\chtwo) from a sample of 5810 candidate events with 57% signal purity over an energy range of $0.5-2.0$GeV. This includes measurements of the absolute total cross section as a function of neutrino energy, and flux-averaged differential cross sections measured in…
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Using a custom 3 Čerenkov-ring fitter, we report cross sections for $ν_μ$-induced charged-current single $π^0$ production on mineral oil (\chtwo) from a sample of 5810 candidate events with 57% signal purity over an energy range of $0.5-2.0$GeV. This includes measurements of the absolute total cross section as a function of neutrino energy, and flux-averaged differential cross sections measured in terms of $Q^2$, $μ^-$ kinematics, and $π^0$ kinematics. The sample yields a flux-averaged total cross section of $(9.2\pm0.3_{stat.}\pm1.5_{syst.})\times10^{-39}$cm$^2$/CH$_2$ at mean neutrino energy of 0.965GeV.
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Submitted 10 February, 2011; v1 submitted 15 October, 2010;
originally announced October 2010.
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Expression of Interest for a Novel Search for CP Violation in the Neutrino Sector: DAEdALUS
Authors:
J. Alonso,
F. T. Avignone,
W. A. Barletta,
R. Barlow,
H. T. Baumgartner,
A. Bernstein,
E. Blucher,
L. Bugel,
L. Calabretta,
L. Camilleri,
R. Carr,
J. M. Conrad,
S. A. Dazeley,
Z. Djurcic,
A. de Gouvea,
P. H. Fisher,
C. M. Ignarra,
B. J. P. Jones,
C. L. Jones,
G. Karagiorgi,
T. Katori,
S. E. Kopp,
R. C. Lanza,
W. A. Loinaz,
P. McIntyre
, et al. (20 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
DAEdALUS, a Decay-At-rest Experiment for delta_CP studies At the Laboratory for Underground Science, provides a new approach to the search for CP violation in the neutrino sector. The design utilizes low-cost, high-power proton accelerators under development for commercial uses. These provide neutrino beams with energy up to 52 MeV from pion and muon decay-at-rest. The experiment searches for anin…
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DAEdALUS, a Decay-At-rest Experiment for delta_CP studies At the Laboratory for Underground Science, provides a new approach to the search for CP violation in the neutrino sector. The design utilizes low-cost, high-power proton accelerators under development for commercial uses. These provide neutrino beams with energy up to 52 MeV from pion and muon decay-at-rest. The experiment searches for aninu_mu to antinu_e at short baselines corresponding to the atmospheric Delta m^2 region. The antinu_e will be detected, via inverse beta decay, in the 300 kton fiducial-volume Gd-doped water Cherenkov neutrino detector proposed for the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL). DAEdALUS opens new opportunities for DUSEL. It provides a high-statistics, low-background alternative for CP violation searches which matches the capability of the conventional long-baseline neutrino experiment, LBNE. Because of the complementary designs, when DAEdALUS antineutrino data are combined with LBNE neutrino data, the sensitivity of the CP-violation search improves beyond any present proposals, including the proposal for Project X. Also, the availability of an on-site neutrino beam opens opportunities for additional physics, both for the presently planned DUSEL detectors and for new experiments at a future 300 ft campus.
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Submitted 1 June, 2010;
originally announced June 2010.
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Photomultiplier Tubes in the MiniBooNE Experiment
Authors:
S. J. Brice,
L. Bugel,
J. M. Conrad,
B. Fleming,
L. Gladstone,
E. Hawker,
P. Killewald,
J. May,
S. McKenney,
P. Nienaber,
B. Roe,
V. Sandberg,
D. Smith,
M. Wysocki
Abstract:
The detector for the MiniBooNE experiment at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory employs 1520 8 inch Hamamatsu models R1408 and R5912 photomultiplier tubes with custom-designed bases. Tests were performed to determine the dark rate, charge and timing resolutions, double-pulsing rate, and desired operating voltage for each tube, so that the tubes could be sorted for optimal placement in the d…
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The detector for the MiniBooNE experiment at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory employs 1520 8 inch Hamamatsu models R1408 and R5912 photomultiplier tubes with custom-designed bases. Tests were performed to determine the dark rate, charge and timing resolutions, double-pulsing rate, and desired operating voltage for each tube, so that the tubes could be sorted for optimal placement in the detector. Seven phototubes were tested to find the angular dependence of their response. After the Super-K phototube implosion accident, an analysis was performed to determine the risk of a similar accident with MiniBooNE.
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Submitted 19 May, 2010;
originally announced May 2010.
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Measurement of neutral current coherent neutral pion production on carbon in a few-GeV neutrino beam
Authors:
Y. Kurimoto,
J. L. Alcaraz-Aunion,
S. J. Brice,
L. Bugel,
J. Catala-Perez,
G. Cheng,
J. M. Conrad,
Z. Djurcic,
U. Dore,
D. A. Finley,
A. J. Franke,
C. Giganti,
J. J. Gomez-Cadenas,
P. Guzowski,
A. Hanson,
Y. Hayato,
K. Hiraide,
G. Jover-Manas,
G. Karagiorgi,
T. Katori,
Y. K. Kobayashi,
T. Kobilarcik,
H. Kubo,
W. C. Louis,
P. F. Loverre
, et al. (39 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The SciBooNE Collaboration reports a measurement of neutral current coherent neutral pion production on carbon by a muon neutrino beam with average energy 0.8 GeV. The separation of coherent from inclusive neutral pion production has been improved by detecting recoil protons from resonant neutral pion production. We measure the ratio of the neutral current coherent neutral pion production to total…
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The SciBooNE Collaboration reports a measurement of neutral current coherent neutral pion production on carbon by a muon neutrino beam with average energy 0.8 GeV. The separation of coherent from inclusive neutral pion production has been improved by detecting recoil protons from resonant neutral pion production. We measure the ratio of the neutral current coherent neutral pion production to total charged current cross sections to be (1.16 +/- 0.24) x 10-2. The ratio of charged current coherent pion to neutral current coherent pion production is calculated to be 0.14+0.30 -0.28, using our published charged current coherent pion measurement.
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Submitted 1 May, 2010;
originally announced May 2010.
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First Measurement of the Muon Neutrino Charged Current Quasielastic Double Differential Cross Section
Authors:
MiniBooNE Collaboration,
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
C. E. Anderson,
A. O. Bazarko,
S. J. Brice,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
J. Cao,
L. Coney,
J. M. Conrad,
D. C. Cox,
A. Curioni,
Z. Djurcic,
D. A. Finley,
B. T. Fleming,
R. Ford,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
J. Grange,
C. Green,
J. A. Green,
T. L. Hart,
E. Hawker,
R. Imlay,
R. A. Johnson
, et al. (61 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
A high-statistics sample of charged-current muon neutrino scattering events collected with the MiniBooNE experiment is analyzed to extract the first measurement of the double differential cross section ($\frac{d^2σ}{dT_μd\cosθ_μ}$) for charged-current quasielastic (CCQE) scattering on carbon. This result features minimal model dependence and provides the most complete information on this process t…
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A high-statistics sample of charged-current muon neutrino scattering events collected with the MiniBooNE experiment is analyzed to extract the first measurement of the double differential cross section ($\frac{d^2σ}{dT_μd\cosθ_μ}$) for charged-current quasielastic (CCQE) scattering on carbon. This result features minimal model dependence and provides the most complete information on this process to date. With the assumption of CCQE scattering, the absolute cross section as a function of neutrino energy ($σ[E_ν]$) and the single differential cross section ($\frac{dσ}{dQ^2}$) are extracted to facilitate comparison with previous measurements. These quantities may be used to characterize an effective axial-vector form factor of the nucleon and to improve the modeling of low-energy neutrino interactions on nuclear targets. The results are relevant for experiments searching for neutrino oscillations.
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Submitted 29 July, 2010; v1 submitted 12 February, 2010;
originally announced February 2010.
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A Study of the Fluorescence Response of Tetraphenyl-butadiene
Authors:
R. Jerry,
L. Winslow,
L. Bugel,
J. M. Conrad
Abstract:
Tetraphenyl-butadiene (TPB) is a widely used fluorescent wavelength-shifter. A common application is in liquid-argon-based particle detectors, where scintillation light is produced in the UV at 128 nm. In liquid argon experiments, TPB is often employed to shift the scintillation light to the visible range in order to allow detection via standard photomultiplier tubes. This paper presents studies…
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Tetraphenyl-butadiene (TPB) is a widely used fluorescent wavelength-shifter. A common application is in liquid-argon-based particle detectors, where scintillation light is produced in the UV at 128 nm. In liquid argon experiments, TPB is often employed to shift the scintillation light to the visible range in order to allow detection via standard photomultiplier tubes. This paper presents studies on the stability of TPB with time under exposure to light. We also examine batch-to-batch variations. We compare scintillation-grade TPB to 99% pure TPB response. In the 99% pure samples, we report a yellowing effect, and full degradation of the TPB emission-peak, upon extended exposure to light.
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Submitted 23 January, 2010;
originally announced January 2010.
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Measurement of ν_μand \barν_μinduced neutral current single $π^0$ production cross sections on mineral oil at E_νO(1 GeV)
Authors:
The MiniBooNE Collaboration,
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
C. E. Anderson,
A. O. Bazarko,
S. J. Brice,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
J. Cao,
L. Coney,
J. M. Conrad,
D. C. Cox,
A. Curioni,
Z. Djurcic,
D. A. Finley,
B. T. Fleming,
R. Ford,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
J. Gonzales,
J. Grange,
C. Green,
J. A. Green,
T. L. Hart,
E. Hawker,
R. Imlay
, et al. (62 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
MiniBooNE reports the first absolute cross sections for neutral current single π^0 production on CH_2 induced by neutrino and antineutrino interactions measured from the largest sets of NC π^0 events collected to date. The principal result consists of differential cross sections measured as functions of π^0 momentum and π^0 angle averaged over the neutrino flux at MiniBooNE. We find total cross…
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MiniBooNE reports the first absolute cross sections for neutral current single π^0 production on CH_2 induced by neutrino and antineutrino interactions measured from the largest sets of NC π^0 events collected to date. The principal result consists of differential cross sections measured as functions of π^0 momentum and π^0 angle averaged over the neutrino flux at MiniBooNE. We find total cross sections of (4.76+/-0.05_{stat}+/-0.76_{sys})*10^{-40} cm^2/nucleon at a mean energy of <E_ν>=808 MeV and (1.48+/-0.05_{stat}+/-0.23_{sys})*10^{-40} cm^2/nucleon at a mean energy of <E_ν>=664 MeV for ν_μand \barν_μinduced production, respectively. In addition, we have included measurements of the neutrino and antineutrino total cross sections for incoherent exclusive NC 1π^0 production corrected for the effects of final state interactions to compare to prior results.
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Submitted 27 January, 2010; v1 submitted 11 November, 2009;
originally announced November 2009.
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Measurement of Inclusive Neutral Current Neutral Pion Production on Carbon in a Few-GeV Neutrino Beam
Authors:
SciBooNE Collaboration,
Y. Kurimoto,
J. L. Alcaraz-Aunion,
S. J. Brice,
L. Bugel,
J. Catala-Perez,
G. Cheng,
J. M. Conrad,
Z. Djurcic,
U. Dore,
D. A. Finley,
A. J. Franke,
C. Giganti,
J. J. Gomez-Cadenas,
P. Guzowski,
A. Hanson,
Y. Hayato,
K. Hiraide,
G. Jover-Manas,
G. Karagiorgi,
T. Katori,
Y. K. Kobayashi,
T. Kobilarcik,
H. Kubo,
W. C. Louis
, et al. (40 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The SciBooNE Collaboration reports inclusive neutral current neutral pion production by a muon neutrino beam on a polystyrene target (C8H8). We obtain (7.7 \pm 0.5(stat.) \pm 0.5 (sys.)) x 10^(-2) as the ratio of the neutral current neutral pion production to total charged current cross section; the mean energy of neutrinos producing detected neutral pions is 1.1 GeV. The result agrees with the…
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The SciBooNE Collaboration reports inclusive neutral current neutral pion production by a muon neutrino beam on a polystyrene target (C8H8). We obtain (7.7 \pm 0.5(stat.) \pm 0.5 (sys.)) x 10^(-2) as the ratio of the neutral current neutral pion production to total charged current cross section; the mean energy of neutrinos producing detected neutral pions is 1.1 GeV. The result agrees with the Rein-Sehgal model implemented in our neutrino interaction simulation program with nuclear effects. The spectrum shape of the neutral pion momentum and angle agree with the model. We also measure the ratio of the neutral current coherent pion production to total charged current cross section to be (0.7 \pm 0.4) x 10^(-2).
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Submitted 5 February, 2010; v1 submitted 29 October, 2009;
originally announced October 2009.
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QCD Precision Measurements and Structure Function Extraction at a High Statistics, High Energy Neutrino Scattering Experiment: NuSOnG
Authors:
T. Adams,
P. Batra,
L. Bugel,
L. Camilleri,
J. M. Conrad,
A. de Gouvêa,
P. H. Fisher,
J. A. Formaggio,
J. Jenkins,
G. Karagiorgi,
T. R. Kobilarcik,
S. Kopp,
G. Kyle,
W. A. Loinaz,
D. A. Mason,
R. Milner,
R. Moore,
J. G. Morfín,
M. Nakamura,
D. Naples,
P. Nienaber,
F. I. Olness,
J. F. Owens,
S. F. Pate,
A. Pronin
, et al. (11 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We extend the physics case for a new high-energy, ultra-high statistics neutrino scattering experiment, NuSOnG (Neutrino Scattering On Glass) to address a variety of issues including precision QCD measurements, extraction of structure functions, and the derived Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs). This experiment uses a Tevatron-based neutrino beam to obtain a sample of Deep Inelastic Scatterin…
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We extend the physics case for a new high-energy, ultra-high statistics neutrino scattering experiment, NuSOnG (Neutrino Scattering On Glass) to address a variety of issues including precision QCD measurements, extraction of structure functions, and the derived Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs). This experiment uses a Tevatron-based neutrino beam to obtain a sample of Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) events which is over two orders of magnitude larger than past samples. We outline an innovative method for fitting the structure functions using a parameterized energy shift which yields reduced systematic uncertainties. High statistics measurements, in combination with improved systematics, will enable NuSOnG to perform discerning tests of fundamental Standard Model parameters as we search for deviations which may hint of "Beyond the Standard Model" physics.
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Submitted 18 June, 2009;
originally announced June 2009.
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First Measurement of $ν_μ$ and $ν_e$ Events in an Off-Axis Horn-Focused Neutrino Beam
Authors:
P. Adamson,
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
C. E. Anderson,
A. O. Bazarko,
M. Bishai,
S. J. Brice,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
J. Cao,
B. C. Choudhary,
L. Coney,
J. M. Conrad,
D. C. Cox,
A. Curioni,
Z. Djurcic,
D. A. Finley,
B. T. Fleming,
R. Ford,
H. R. Gallagher,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
C. Green,
J. A. Green,
D. Harris,
T. L. Hart
, et al. (71 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We report the first observation of off-axis neutrino interactions in the MiniBooNE detector from the NuMI beamline at Fermilab. The MiniBooNE detector is located 745 m from the NuMI production target, at 110 mrad angle ($6.3^{\circ}$) with respect to the NuMI beam axis. Samples of charged current quasi-elastic $ν_μ$ and $ν_e$ interactions are analyzed and found to be in agreement with expectatio…
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We report the first observation of off-axis neutrino interactions in the MiniBooNE detector from the NuMI beamline at Fermilab. The MiniBooNE detector is located 745 m from the NuMI production target, at 110 mrad angle ($6.3^{\circ}$) with respect to the NuMI beam axis. Samples of charged current quasi-elastic $ν_μ$ and $ν_e$ interactions are analyzed and found to be in agreement with expectation. This provides a direct verification of the expected pion and kaon contributions to the neutrino flux and validates the modeling of the NuMI off-axis beam.
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Submitted 21 July, 2009; v1 submitted 15 September, 2008;
originally announced September 2008.
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First Observation of Coherent $π^0$ Production in Neutrino Nucleus Interactions with $E_ν<$ 2 GeV
Authors:
The MiniBooNE Collaboration,
A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo,
C. E. Anderson,
A. O. Bazarko,
S. J. Brice,
B. C. Brown,
L. Bugel,
J. Cao,
L. Coney,
J. M. Conrad,
D. C. Cox,
A. Curioni,
Z. Djurcic,
D. A. Finley,
B. T. Fleming,
R. Ford,
F. G. Garcia,
G. T. Garvey,
C. Green,
J. A. Green,
T. L. Hart,
E. Hawker,
R. Imlay,
R. A. Johnson,
G. Karagiori
, et al. (56 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab has amassed the largest sample to date of $π^0$s produced in neutral current (NC) neutrino-nucleus interactions at low energy. This paper reports a measurement of the momentum distribution of $π^0$s produced in mineral oil (CH$_2$) and the first observation of coherent $π^0$ production below 2 GeV. In the forward direction, the yield of events observed above…
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The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab has amassed the largest sample to date of $π^0$s produced in neutral current (NC) neutrino-nucleus interactions at low energy. This paper reports a measurement of the momentum distribution of $π^0$s produced in mineral oil (CH$_2$) and the first observation of coherent $π^0$ production below 2 GeV. In the forward direction, the yield of events observed above the expectation for resonant production is attributed primarily to coherent production off carbon, but may also include a small contribution from diffractive production on hydrogen. Integrated over the MiniBooNE neutrino flux, the sum of the NC coherent and diffractive modes is found to be (19.5 $\pm$1.1 (stat) $\pm$2.5 (sys))% of all exclusive NC $π^0$ production at MiniBooNE. These measurements are of immediate utility because they quantify an important background to MiniBooNE's search for $ν_μ \to ν_e$ oscillations.
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Submitted 24 March, 2008;
originally announced March 2008.
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Terascale Physics Opportunities at a High Statistics, High Energy Neutrino Scattering Experiment: NuSOnG
Authors:
T. Adams,
P. Batra,
L. Bugel,
L. Camilleri,
J. M. Conrad,
A. de Gouvea,
P. H. Fisher,
J. A. Formaggio,
J. Jenkins,
G. Karagiorgi,
T. R. Kobilarcik,
S. Kopp,
G. Kyle,
W. A. Loinaz,
D. A. Mason,
R. Milner,
R. Moore,
J. G. Morfin,
M. Nakamura,
D. Naples,
P. Nienaber,
F. I Olness,
J. F. Owens,
S. F. Pate,
A. Pronin
, et al. (11 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
This article presents the physics case for a new high-energy, ultra-high statistics neutrino scattering experiment, NuSOnG (Neutrino Scattering on Glass). This experiment uses a Tevatron-based neutrino beam to obtain over an order of magnitude higher statistics than presently available for the purely weak processes $ν_μ+e^- \to ν_μ+ e^-$ and $ν_μ+ e^- \to ν_e + μ^-$. A sample of Deep Inelastic S…
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This article presents the physics case for a new high-energy, ultra-high statistics neutrino scattering experiment, NuSOnG (Neutrino Scattering on Glass). This experiment uses a Tevatron-based neutrino beam to obtain over an order of magnitude higher statistics than presently available for the purely weak processes $ν_μ+e^- \to ν_μ+ e^-$ and $ν_μ+ e^- \to ν_e + μ^-$. A sample of Deep Inelastic Scattering events which is over two orders of magnitude larger than past samples will also be obtained. As a result, NuSOnG will be unique among present and planned experiments for its ability to probe neutrino couplings to Beyond the Standard Model physics. Many Beyond Standard Model theories physics predict a rich hierarchy of TeV-scale new states that can correct neutrino cross-sections, through modifications of $Zνν$ couplings, tree-level exchanges of new particles such as $Z^\prime$s, or through loop-level oblique corrections to gauge boson propagators. These corrections are generic in theories of extra dimensions, extended gauge symmetries, supersymmetry, and more. The sensitivity of NuSOnG to this new physics extends beyond 5 TeV mass scales. This article reviews these physics opportunities.
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Submitted 30 September, 2009; v1 submitted 3 March, 2008;
originally announced March 2008.
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Precise Measurement of Neutrino and Anti-neutrino Differential Cross Sections
Authors:
M. Tzanov,
D. Naples,
S. Boyd,
J. McDonald,
V. Radescu,
T. Adams,
A. Alton,
S. Avvakumov,
L. deBarbaro,
P. deBarbaro,
R. H. Bernstein,
A. Bodek,
T. Bolton,
J. Brau,
D. Buchholz,
H. Budd,
L. Bugel,
J. Conrad,
R. B. Drucker,
B. T. Fleming,
R. Frey,
J. A. Formaggio,
J. Goldman,
M. Goncharov,
D. A. Harris
, et al. (23 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The NuTeV experiment at Fermilab has obtained a unique high statistics sample of neutrino and anti-neutrino interactions using its high-energy sign-selected beam. We present a measurement of the differential cross section for charged-current neutrino and anti-neutrino scattering from iron. Structure functions, F_2(x,Q^2) and xF_3(x,Q^2), are determined by fitting the inelasticity, y, dependence…
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The NuTeV experiment at Fermilab has obtained a unique high statistics sample of neutrino and anti-neutrino interactions using its high-energy sign-selected beam. We present a measurement of the differential cross section for charged-current neutrino and anti-neutrino scattering from iron. Structure functions, F_2(x,Q^2) and xF_3(x,Q^2), are determined by fitting the inelasticity, y, dependence of the cross sections. This measurement has significantly improved systematic precision as a consequence of more precise understanding of hadron and muon energy scales.
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Submitted 9 September, 2005;
originally announced September 2005.
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A Proposal for a Near Detector Experiment on the Booster Neutrino Beamline: FINeSSE: Fermilab Intense Neutrino Scattering Scintillator Experiment
Authors:
The FINeSSE Collaboration,
S. Brice,
L. Bugel,
J. M. Conrad,
J. Doskow,
D. Finley,
B. T. Fleming,
G. T. Garvey,
C. Green,
C. Horowitz,
R. Imlay,
T. Katori,
J. M. Link,
W. C. Louis,
L. Lu,
G. McGregor,
W. Metcalf,
H. O. Meyer,
P. Ockerse,
V. Papavassiliou,
J. C. Peng,
M. Shaevitz,
R. Stefanski,
M. Sung,
R. Tayloe
, et al. (5 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Understanding the quark and gluon substructure of the nucleon has been a prime goal of both nuclear and particle physics for more than thirty years and has led to much of the progress in strong interaction physics. Still the flavor dependence of the nucleon's spin is a significant fundamental question that is not understood. Experiments measuring the spin content of the nucleon have reported con…
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Understanding the quark and gluon substructure of the nucleon has been a prime goal of both nuclear and particle physics for more than thirty years and has led to much of the progress in strong interaction physics. Still the flavor dependence of the nucleon's spin is a significant fundamental question that is not understood. Experiments measuring the spin content of the nucleon have reported conflicting results on the amount of nucleon spin carried by strange quarks. Quasi-elastic neutrino scattering, observed using a novel detection technique, provides a theoretically clean measure of this quantity.
The optimum neutrino beam energy needed to measure the strange spin of the nucleon is 1 GeV. This is also an ideal energy to search for neutrino oscillations at high $Δm^2$ in an astrophysically interesting region. Models of the r-process in supernovae which include high-mass sterile neutrinos may explain the abundance of neutron-rich heavy metals in the universe. These high-mass sterile neutrinos are outside the sensitivity region of any previous neutrino oscillation experiments.
The Booster neutrino beamline at Fermilab provides the world's highest intensity neutrino beam in the 0.5-1.0 GeV energy range, a range ideal for both of these measurements. A small detector located upstream of the MiniBooNE detector, 100 m from the recently commissioned Booster neutrino source, could definitively measure the strange quark contribution to the nucleon spin. This detector, in conjunction with the MiniBooNE detector, could also investigate $ν_μ$ disappearance in a currently unexplored, cosmologically interesting region.
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Submitted 3 February, 2004;
originally announced February 2004.
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Off the Mass Shell: Electroweak Physics at NuTeV
Authors:
K. S. McFarland,
G. P. Zeller,
T. Adams,
A. Alton,
S. Avvakumov,
L. deBarbaro,
P. deBarbaro,
R. H. Bernstein,
A. Bodek,
T. Bolton,
J. Brau,
D. Buchholz,
H. Budd,
L. Bugel,
J. Conrad,
R. B. Drucker,
B. T. Fleming,
R. Frey,
J. A. Formaggio,
J. Goldman,
M. Goncharov,
D. A. Harris,
R. A. Johnson,
J. H. Kim,
S. Koutsoliotas
, et al. (21 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The NuTeV collaboration has performed precision measurements of the ratio of neutral current to charged current cross-sections in high rate, high energy neutrino and anti-neutrino beams on a dense, primarily steel, target. The separate neutrino and anti-neutrino beams, high statistics, and improved control of other experimental systematics, allow the determination of electroweak parameters with…
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The NuTeV collaboration has performed precision measurements of the ratio of neutral current to charged current cross-sections in high rate, high energy neutrino and anti-neutrino beams on a dense, primarily steel, target. The separate neutrino and anti-neutrino beams, high statistics, and improved control of other experimental systematics, allow the determination of electroweak parameters with significantly greater precision than past neutrino-nucleon scattering experiments. Our null hypothesis test of the standard model prediction measures sin2thetaW=0.2277+/-0.0013(stat)+/-0.0009(syst), a value which is 3 sigma above the prediction. We discuss possible explanations for and implications of this discrepancy.
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Submitted 4 October, 2002;
originally announced October 2002.
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A Departure from Prediction: Electroweak Physics at Nutev
Authors:
K. S. McFarland,
G. P. Zeller,
T. Adams,
A. Alton,
S. Avvakumov,
L. deBarbaro,
P. deBarbaro,
R. H. Bernstein,
A. Bodek,
T. Bolton,
J. Brau,
D. Buchholz,
H. Budd,
L. Bugel,
J. Conrad,
R. B. Drucker,
B. T. Fleming,
R. Frey,
J. A. Formaggio,
J. Goldman,
M. Goncharov,
D. A. Harris,
R. A. Johnson,
J. H. Kim,
S. Koutsoliotas
, et al. (20 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The NuTeV experiment has performed precision measurements of the ratio of neutral-current to charged-current cross-sections in high rate, high energy neutrino and anti-neutrino beams on a dense, primarily steel, target. The separate neutrino and anti-neutrino beams, high statistics, and improved control of other experimental systematics, allow the determination of electroweak parameters with sig…
▽ More
The NuTeV experiment has performed precision measurements of the ratio of neutral-current to charged-current cross-sections in high rate, high energy neutrino and anti-neutrino beams on a dense, primarily steel, target. The separate neutrino and anti-neutrino beams, high statistics, and improved control of other experimental systematics, allow the determination of electroweak parameters with significantly greater precision than past neutrino-nucleon scattering experiments. Our null hypothesis test of the standard model prediction measures sin2thetaW=0.2277+/-0.0013(stat)+/-0.0009(syst), a value which is 3.0 standard deviations above the prediction. We discuss possible explanations for and implications of this discrepancy.
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Submitted 25 March, 2003; v1 submitted 22 May, 2002;
originally announced May 2002.
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A Search for Muon-neutrino to Electron-neutrino and Muon-antineutrino to Electron-antineutrino Oscillations at NuTeV
Authors:
S. Avvakumov,
T. Adams,
A. Alton,
L. deBarbaro,
P. deBarbaro,
R. H. Bernstein,
A. Bodek,
T. Bolton,
J. Brau,
D. Buchholz,
H. Budd,
L. Bugel,
J. Conrad,
R. B. Drucker,
B. T. Fleming,
R. Frey,
J. A. Formaggio,
J. Goldman,
M. Goncharov,
D. A. Harris,
R. A. Johnson,
J. H. Kim,
S. Koutsoliotas,
M. J. Lamm,
W. Marsh
, et al. (21 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Limits on $ν_μ\to ν_e$ and $\barν_μ\to \barν_e$ oscillations are extracted using the NuTeV detector with sign-selected $ν_μ$ and $\nub_μ$ beams. In $\nub_μ$ mode, for the case of $\sin^2 2α= 1$, $Δm^2 > 2.6$ ${\rm eV^2}$ is excluded, and for $Δm^2 \gg 1000$ ${\rm eV^2}$, $\sin^2 2α> 1.1 \times 10^{-3}$. The NuTeV data exclude the high $Δm^2$ end of $\barν_μ\to \barν_e$ oscillations parameters fa…
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Limits on $ν_μ\to ν_e$ and $\barν_μ\to \barν_e$ oscillations are extracted using the NuTeV detector with sign-selected $ν_μ$ and $\nub_μ$ beams. In $\nub_μ$ mode, for the case of $\sin^2 2α= 1$, $Δm^2 > 2.6$ ${\rm eV^2}$ is excluded, and for $Δm^2 \gg 1000$ ${\rm eV^2}$, $\sin^2 2α> 1.1 \times 10^{-3}$. The NuTeV data exclude the high $Δm^2$ end of $\barν_μ\to \barν_e$ oscillations parameters favored by the LSND experiment without the need to assume that the oscillation parameters for $ν$ and $\nub$ are the same. We present the most stringent experimental limits for $ν_μ(\barν_μ) \to ν_e (\barν_e)$ oscillations in the large $Δm^2$ region.
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Submitted 18 May, 2002; v1 submitted 12 March, 2002;
originally announced March 2002.
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A Precise Determination of Electroweak Parameters in Neutrino-Nucleon Scattering
Authors:
NuTeV Collaboration,
G. P. Zeller,
K. S. McFarland,
T. Adams,
A. Alton,
S. Avvakumov,
L. deBarbaro,
P. deBarbaro,
R. H. Bernstein,
A. Bodek,
T. Bolton,
J. Brau,
D. Buchholz,
H. Budd,
L. Bugel,
J. Conrad,
R. B. Drucker,
B. T. Fleming,
R. Frey,
J. A. Formaggio,
J. Goldman,
M. Goncharov,
D. A. Harris,
R. A. Johnson,
J. H. Kim
, et al. (21 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The NuTeV collaboration has extracted sin^2theta_W from the ratios of neutral current to charged current neutrino and anti-neutrino cross-sections. Our value, sin^2theta_W(on-shell)=0.2277+/-0.0013(stat)+/-0.0009(syst), is three standard deviations above the standard model prediction. We also present a model independent analysis of the same data.
The NuTeV collaboration has extracted sin^2theta_W from the ratios of neutral current to charged current neutrino and anti-neutrino cross-sections. Our value, sin^2theta_W(on-shell)=0.2277+/-0.0013(stat)+/-0.0009(syst), is three standard deviations above the standard model prediction. We also present a model independent analysis of the same data.
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Submitted 25 March, 2003; v1 submitted 24 October, 2001;
originally announced October 2001.
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Observation of an Anomalous Number of Dimuon Events in a High Energy Neutrino Beam
Authors:
NuTeV Collaboration,
T. Adams,
A. Alton,
S. Avvakumov,
L. de Barbaro,
P. de Barbaro,
R. H. Bernstein,
A. Bodek,
T. Bolton,
J. Brau,
D. Buchholz,
H. Budd,
L. Bugel,
J. Conrad,
R. B. Drucker,
B. T. Fleming,
R. Frey,
J. A. Formaggio,
J. Goldman,
M. Goncharov,
D. A. Harris,
R. A. Johnson,
J. H. Kim,
S. Koutsoliotas,
M. J. Lamm
, et al. (21 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
A search for long-lived neutral particles (N^0's) with masses above 2.2 GeV/c^2 that decay into at least one muon has been performed using an instrumented decay channel at the NuTeV experiment at Fermilab. Data were examined for particles decaying into the final states mu mu, mu e, and mu pi. Three mu mu events were observed over an expected Standard Model background of 0.069 +/- 0.010 events; n…
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A search for long-lived neutral particles (N^0's) with masses above 2.2 GeV/c^2 that decay into at least one muon has been performed using an instrumented decay channel at the NuTeV experiment at Fermilab. Data were examined for particles decaying into the final states mu mu, mu e, and mu pi. Three mu mu events were observed over an expected Standard Model background of 0.069 +/- 0.010 events; no events were observed in the other modes.
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Submitted 20 April, 2001; v1 submitted 19 April, 2001;
originally announced April 2001.
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New Measurements of Nucleon Structure Functions from CCFR/NuTeV
Authors:
A. Bodek,
U. K. Yang,
T. Adams,
A. Alton,
C. G. Arroyo,
S. Avvakumov,
L. de Barbaro,
P. de Barbaro,
A. O. Bazarko,
R. H. Bernstein,
T. Bolton,
J. Brau,
D. Buchholz,
H. Budd,
L. Bugel,
J. Conrad,
R. B. Drucker,
B. T. Fleming,
J. A. Formaggio,
R. Frey,
J. Goldman,
M. Goncharov,
D. A. Harris,
R. A. Johnson,
J. H. Kim
, et al. (7 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
We report on the extraction of the structure functions F_2 and Delta xF_3 = xF_3nu-xF_3nub from CCFR neutrino-Fe and antineutrino-Fe differential cross sections. The extraction is performed in a physics model independent (PMI) way. This first measurement for Delta xF_3, which is useful in testing models of heavy charm production, is higher than current theoretical predictions. Within 5% the F_2…
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We report on the extraction of the structure functions F_2 and Delta xF_3 = xF_3nu-xF_3nub from CCFR neutrino-Fe and antineutrino-Fe differential cross sections. The extraction is performed in a physics model independent (PMI) way. This first measurement for Delta xF_3, which is useful in testing models of heavy charm production, is higher than current theoretical predictions. Within 5% the F_2 (PMI) values measured in neutrino and muon scattering are in agreement with the predictions of Next-to-Leading-Order PDFs (using massive charm production schemes), thus resolving the long-standing discrepancy between the two measurements.
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Submitted 28 September, 2000;
originally announced September 2000.